The scarab beetle was considered sacred in Ancient Egypt. A species of dung beetle, Scarabaeus sacer pushes a large ball of compacted excrement ahead of it, which the Egyptians viewed as symbolic of the sun: the god Khepri was said to roll the sun across the sky. Bizarrely, they believed only male scarab beetles existed, spontaneously emerging from dung balls - a belief that led to alchemical ideas of self-creation and resurrection.